Ok so here is the story.
I had a customer come in last week with a Cub Cadet Z. Right wheel wont pull on hills. I gave him 2 options. Repair his or I could sell him a complete new motor.
I priced the new motor at $650 and also priced the repairs at $400-450 depending on what needed done.
He says that he didnt have the money for that..."can you just patch it to get me through the rest of the year and i will buy a new mower with income tax?"
I informed him that it was a crapshoot. There isnt much inside of those hydrogear units. Informed him that just tearing one down and installing new seals, cleaning the screen and replacing a couple bad bearings would likely be a $200 bill and that it probably wouldnt fix it or fix it for very long and that it may be a total waste of money. He decides that i should go ahead and try it.(mistake #1 for me agreeing to patch something instead of fixing it right but i was curious if one could be patched)
On to what i did....i tore the unit down and found a bearing that had failed, the screen(filter) was plugged with metal shavings, piston assy. had wore grooves into the piston block, and the pistons were starting to pit. Exactly as i had originally told him was the problem....those were the parts i quoted in my original repair estimate. So instead of just reassembling it and giving it back him i tried replacing the bearing and carefully sanded the grooves out of the aluminum block with sandpaper wrapped around a file hoping that would give a smooth surface for the piston block to ride on and seal against and that he could finish out the year like he had hoped. cleaned all the shavings out and reassembled with new oil. Tried it out today and worked ok around the shop....would spin the tire instead of stalling out on smooth concrete and seemed to pull decent but not as strong as the other side. Did seem to pull better than when he brought it in....would stall the motor out instead of spinning the tires before.
He picks it up and takes it home.......still wont pull hills....so right off the bat he is pissed that i ripped him off and he wasted $200. I am inclined to refund the labor....It wont make him happy I'm sure but it will go along way towards it. If it matters any....he is not a long time customer...only brought it here after i was the cheapest quote on replacing or rebuilding the unit.
So do i just live with a pissed off customer that will never be back or refund and hope for the best
I had a customer come in last week with a Cub Cadet Z. Right wheel wont pull on hills. I gave him 2 options. Repair his or I could sell him a complete new motor.
I priced the new motor at $650 and also priced the repairs at $400-450 depending on what needed done.
He says that he didnt have the money for that..."can you just patch it to get me through the rest of the year and i will buy a new mower with income tax?"
I informed him that it was a crapshoot. There isnt much inside of those hydrogear units. Informed him that just tearing one down and installing new seals, cleaning the screen and replacing a couple bad bearings would likely be a $200 bill and that it probably wouldnt fix it or fix it for very long and that it may be a total waste of money. He decides that i should go ahead and try it.(mistake #1 for me agreeing to patch something instead of fixing it right but i was curious if one could be patched)
On to what i did....i tore the unit down and found a bearing that had failed, the screen(filter) was plugged with metal shavings, piston assy. had wore grooves into the piston block, and the pistons were starting to pit. Exactly as i had originally told him was the problem....those were the parts i quoted in my original repair estimate. So instead of just reassembling it and giving it back him i tried replacing the bearing and carefully sanded the grooves out of the aluminum block with sandpaper wrapped around a file hoping that would give a smooth surface for the piston block to ride on and seal against and that he could finish out the year like he had hoped. cleaned all the shavings out and reassembled with new oil. Tried it out today and worked ok around the shop....would spin the tire instead of stalling out on smooth concrete and seemed to pull decent but not as strong as the other side. Did seem to pull better than when he brought it in....would stall the motor out instead of spinning the tires before.
He picks it up and takes it home.......still wont pull hills....so right off the bat he is pissed that i ripped him off and he wasted $200. I am inclined to refund the labor....It wont make him happy I'm sure but it will go along way towards it. If it matters any....he is not a long time customer...only brought it here after i was the cheapest quote on replacing or rebuilding the unit.
So do i just live with a pissed off customer that will never be back or refund and hope for the best